With her sensational role debut at the Vienna State Opera, superstar diva Anna Netrebko displays a performance of rare vocal and dramatic power. The Russian soprano sings the role of the unjustly accused second wife of British King Henry VIII, ‘veering between indignant fury and tender righteousness’ and demonstrating a new level of confidence in her technique with excellent ‘passagework, particularly in trills, and seamless runs even to the lowest notes’ (Opera News).

Anna Netrebko once again triumphed at the 2006 Salzburg Festival with her winning portrayal of Susanna in Claus Guth's new production of Le nozze di Figaro, the highlights of which can be heard on this spectacular CD. Led by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the Vienna Philharmonic, this production of Figaro garnered critical acclaim: "Guth and Harnoncourt have opened up a new perspective on an opera that is normally staged as a lightweight, turbulent farce," wrote the Zeit Online, while Die Welt described Harnoncourt as "a sorcerer able to conjure up magical sounds."

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary.
Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary.
Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

Bianca e Falliero has enough fine music to get the blood boiling, the toes tapping, and the hands clapping. It is strong in rhythmically exciting pieces and showy, virtuosic singing, both of which are in ample supply in this performance. Jennifer Larmore gets through Falliero's music with incredible aplomb and a truly handsome tone. Majella Cullagh's Bianca is just as technically fine as Larmore's Falliero, and she, too, pays close attention to expressing her predicament. Contareno, Bianca's cruel father, is sung by the exciting, accomplished tenor Barry Banks, who seems to understand that Rossini occasionally uses high notes and difficult roulades as expressive weapons. The others in the cast don't let us down. David Parry conducts with an inner tension that keeps the listener riveted. (Robert Levine)

On this 3-CD album Claudio Abbado brings to Figaro, Mozart's "sublime mixture of wit and melancholy" (Stendhal), "a keen sense of rhythm and texture and a very keen ear for orchestral detail" (Gramophone), with Cecilia Bartoli "ideally cast", an "enchanting" Sylvia McNair, and Cheryl Studer giving a "totally radiant performance"(The Penguin Guide).

Giorgio Strehler was one of Europe’s most celebrated theatre directors. In his Piccolo Teatro in Milan he created outstanding interpretations of Bertolt Brecht and William Shakespeare. As an opera director he worked at all the major international opera houses, most notably the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, where he was responsible for productions of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra (1971), Macbeth (1975) and in 1980 for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. This legendary production of Mozart’s masterpiece is now available as a 2006 recording, featuring the wonderful Diana Damrau as Susanna and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Figaro.

For his production of “ Don Giovanni“ at the Vienna International Festival (Wiener Festwochen), Roberto de Simone does not want to follow in the footsteps of other directors who modernise the design and add something that did not exist in Mozart’s original. He sends Don Giovanni on a journey through time to revisit the centuries that the character lived through starting with the original costume of the 16th century and ending in the 19th century. Don Giovanni changes garments but is still the same legend and archetype. Something similar can be said for his accompanying antagonist, Donna Elvira. De Simone succeeds in sticking to the flow of the plot and to the music, in which the soloists and Riccardo Muti’s state opera orchestra have a crucial part. Muti spiritedly conducts with a sense for style and gives the singers room to shine. In the baroque ambiance of the theatre on the river Wien, we experience a “Don Giovanni“ in a unique unity of theatrical pretence and top-rate musical performance.

This live recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni inaugurates a series of Mozart operas to be recorded live at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden in southwestern Germany, featuring a galaxy of top operatic stars. The performance marks an impressive beginning indeed for the project. The incongruously named Mahler Chamber Orchestra under French Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin may seem tentative and underpowered to those used to, say, the Vienna Philharmonic, but Nézet-Séguin keeps the music very tightly connected to the singers. The opera stands or falls on the voice and attitude of the seducer Don himself, and the performance of the young Italian bass-baritone Ildebrando d'Arcangelo may come to be seen as a milestone in his career development. He has a low yet lively voice, and he's a completely persuasive Don Giovanni.

LA Opera's latest production of Verdi s Macbeth (2016) features Plácido Domingo in the title role and Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Lady Macbeth. The opera is staged by Darko Tresnjak, who won a Tony Award for his direction of the Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder.

This new, excitingly original production of Mozart's most popular opera was the sensation of the 2006 Salzburg Festival. "What young director Claus Guth has made of Figaro - with Harnoncourt's active collaboration - is genius … The stellar cast performed with power and precision …" (Le Monde). "…a fully rounded musical performance…By and large the opera could hardly be more strongly cast. Anna Netrebko is a dreamy, vulnerable and beautifully sung Susanna, and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo's smouldering Figaro is a really macho rival to the Count.” (Gramophone)